Piero della Francesca was a painter, mathematician and theorist. He was born into a prominent family in the Tuscan town of Borgo San Sepolcro, where he was educated and trained as a painter. Over his long career he worked in other cities in the region, at several of the great Italian courts and for the papacy. However, he never loosened ties with his birthplace, providing paintings for its city council, churches and convents, and for his family home. All three paintings in this room were made for his native Borgo.
After his death, Piero was remembered mainly for his treatises on perspective and geometry. The revival of his reputation as an artist in the 19th century was partly thanks to British scholars and collectors, who valued the dignified solemnity of his paintings. Piero’s cool colour palette and keen sense of space and light have also inspired generations of modern artists, like Vanessa Bell (1879–1961) and David Hockney (born 1937–).
